


Out of Beta

by thelonebamf



Category: Metal Gear
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, M/M, Not my wheelhouse but I'm trying something new
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-10
Updated: 2016-08-10
Packaged: 2018-08-07 21:25:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,535
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7730287
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thelonebamf/pseuds/thelonebamf
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A young Solid Snake discovers he has a lot to learn about where he came from, to say nothing of his place in the "natural order" of things. But what happens when he's no longer a military man? And what of his new "roommate"?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

A bead of sweat trickled down Miller’s face, meandering through the rough bristles of his chin before finally falling to his chest, a darkened spot on the fabric sticking to his skin. His lip twitched, too late to stop it and soon transformed into the beginning of a frown. The sun bore down on the man relentlessly, to say nothing of his trainees, still doing laps around the track in tight formation. He flattened the end of toothpick between his teeth as his eyes narrowed, picking out the familiar form of one of his trainees. Even at this distance there was no mistaking the young man, lean and with a sharpness to his movements that even some of the older soldiers hadn’t yet mastered.

 

Though Miller demanded absolute obedience from all of his subordinates, not all of them followed his orders with ease. In fact, there was something within David he could sense boiling just beneath the surface. The young man didn’t enjoy the order and regularity that came with a military life, the rebellious streak within him always a hair’s breadth from making itself known. Yet he seemed to challenge himself to adhere to the chain of command, to heed every instruction to the letter, if only to prove he could. 

 

Unfortunately, that sort of thinking was no good to Miller who needed control of his men to be complete and without hesitation. Willful obedience out of spite was neither instant nor instinctive, and he required both.

 

The good news was he was about to get some help in that department.

 

The cheap metal of the whistle burned his lips as he blared a quick rhythm, ushering the trainees to attention. He barked out a list of orders, only half keeping track himself before dismissing them and watching the tidy rows slowly disperse into a relaxed mob as they headed for the mess hall. 

 

Smoking out on the field was frowned upon, but he watched as David pulled a battered pack of cigarettes from his pocket and plucked one out with his mouth before offering the box to the soldier next to him. 

 

Frank.

 

It would be worthwhile to keep an eye on those two, especially over the next few days.

 

* * *

 

 

The firm knock at the door roused David from his bunk, shoulders and back tense as he approached the door, half expecting some manner of good-natured hazing. The relief at seeing a single body on the other side of the door was somewhat diminished when he realized it was his Superior Officer, a grim look upon his face.

 

“At ease,” Miller muttered, stepping into the room.

 

“Master Miller,” David swallowed hard, posture still rigid until he saw the cardboard carton held in the other man’s hands. “Is there something you need from me… sir?”

 

“No, David.” He shook his head with a sigh, before placing the six pack of beer on the desk pushed up against the wall. “This is a social call. If I’m not mistaken today is your birthday.”

 

“Not for a few hours yet.” David glanced at the clock, still two hours until midnight.

 

“Mm.” Miller continued on as though he hadn’t heard.  “And an important one at that. Time you get to enjoy some of these, hm?”

 

“Y-Yes sir. For the uh, first time.” 

 

The officer quirked an eyebrow at that, choosing to take a seat on the thin mattress pad rather than call out David’s obvious lie. “Take a seat, Dave. Relax. And hand me a bottle.”

 

* * *

 

 

All in all it wasn’t the worst evening David has spent at the camp by a long shot. Though he always had the sneaking suspicion he was under greater scrutiny than any of his peers, his quiet resolution to perform at the highest level had earned him nothing but accolades. Still, it was impossible to shake the feeling of being watched, even now.

 

“I ever tell you about my time with the Diamond Dogs, David?” Miller asked from his spot on the mattress. He’d made himself comfortable against the wall, thin pillow behind his back, arm behind his head, bottle in his free hand. He’d gone so far as to remove his boots, kicking them off in a pile which David had hurried to set upright.

 

“No, sir. I don’t believe you have. Was that your squad before Foxhound?”

 

There was a small moment of silence and a deep sigh before Miller continued. “Something like that. Special group. Hand picked.” He twisted the bottle between his fingers, allowing the liquid inside to roll against the glass. “All good men, never seen the likes of them since.”

 

No response seemed to be called for, and so David remained silent. His eyes darted to the clock, twenty minutes til midnight, and presumably he’d be given a handshake, whatever was left of the bottles, and permission to pass the rest of the night alone.

 

“Dogs.” Miller echoed, suddenly. “Noble creatures. Better than cats by miles. You know anything about them?”

 

“I had a neighbor for a brief time who had a few hounds but-”

 

“No, no I mean… historically speaking.”

 

“...No, sir.”

 

The man gave an annoyed huff before taking a long swig and speaking again. “Thousands of years, man and beast living together. We made dogs, you know, out of wolves. Easy to see with huskies and shepherds, but even granny’s little piece of shi tsu is still a wolf at its core.” He chuckled dryly at his own joke. “But we shaped those wild things, tamed them, made them work for us.”

 

David nodded, unsure exactly where this history lesson was going. It was strange. Miller looked relaxed, and he himself seemed in no danger of earning a reprimand but he could feel a tension building in the room. Even though he was wearing nothing more than his usual thin t-shirt and boxers for sleep, he began to feel unpleasantly warm. Just another fifteen minutes though, and he was sure Miller would let him have a drink.

 

“The men I worked with back then, had a bit in common with dogs. Hard-working. Loyal. A respect for authority and chain of command. Like a pack.”

 

“Seems like important qualities for all soldiers,” David offered.

 

Another huff of laughter. “Perhaps so, but there was more to it than that. Like I said, every one of those men were hand picked to become a part of the team. The pack. There was more to the ‘Diamond Dogs’ than a catchy name, David.” He caught the edge of his sunglasses with the lip of his bottle, just enough to look over the top of the lenses. “See, we may have taught those wolves a thing or two when we brought them in from the woods, but information is an exchange. Not a lot of people know this, but mankind learned a little something from the beasts as well.”

 

“Sir?” 

 

“Mm.” Miller looked over at the clock on the desk and back to David, who was squirming a little in his seat. “Ten minutes. Better make this quick.”

 

He received nothing more than a growing look of confusion.

 

“The reason the Diamond Dogs worked so well was because we had access to some of that very information. The pack instinct. The desire for indisputable leadership. And we had it, in the Boss. He was our Alpha.”

 

David nodded blindly, trying to follow the thread of the conversation but finding it harder and harder to concentrate. He just hoped that Miller would either make his point soon, or else leave so he could stumble to the showers without question.

 

“He was at the top of the pack, so to speak. And below him the Betas who took orders, went on missions, saw to the day to day operations. And below that, in much fewer number the Omegas.” He smiled wryly as he pulled himself up from the bed and took a few steps towards David, arms tense against his desk, fingers gripping at the cold metal, growing hot in his hands. 

 

“Now the most important thing for an Omega is to know their place. When I say ‘beneath’ the rest of the pack, well… I mean just that.” He set the bottle down on the desk, keeping his eyes trained on David, taking note of every breath, every swallow, every shudder that escaped him. “You see the Diamond Dogs, like any organization- were a machine. And a machine needs oil to keep it running smoothly.”

 

“And if there’s one thing an Omega is good for, it’s keeping things nice and… slick.”

 

“M-Master Miller?”

 

“I knew the minute I saw you turn up in my camp. You would have been at home with the Diamond Dogs, David. You’re as good as a son of the Boss, did you know that?” He took his chin in his hand and stared him straight in the eye.

 

David remained stock still, doing his best not to look away. “Y-you mean… I’m an Alpha?”

 

“No, David.” Miller shook his head, and pulled his chin close enough that their lips grazed against each other as he spoke. “You are  _ not. _ ”


	2. Chapter 2

_ May 28th, 2005 _

_ Alaska _

 

David tore the cabinet doors open and swept out the entire contents with a single motion of the arm. Bleach. Window cleaner. Half a package of sponges and an empty glass bottle that taunted him as it rolled on his side, red and white label against the ground. He growled angrily and kicked the lot halfway across the kitchen floor before storming to the bathroom.

 

He’d been careless. He knew better but so much had changed so quickly that some of the old systems had begun to fall by the wayside. It hadn’t been that long ago that Meryl had stormed out and god knew he’d stocked up immediately after, and during, and before. So why the fuck was every bottle in the place empty or gone?

 

A faint and worried whine behind him wasn’t enough to lighten his mood. 

 

“Hush, Laika. I’m thinking.”

 

Except thinking was growing more and more difficult by the second. Every breath he took seemed to invite in fog that muddied his vision and his thoughts. If he didn’t find something to help and fast, he’d be done for. 

 

And things had actually been going  _ well. _

 

The bottles of mouthwash and rubbing alcohol in the bathroom would have to do. 

 

He’d been a fool and he knew it, the voice of his old Master echoing in his head. 

 

_ This is just a part of you, the way you were built. There’s no cure, no escape. You can dull it if you have the means, but otherwise you’ve got to ride it out. Let nature take its course.  _

 

He’d started emptying the first bottle when he heard the front door slam. A pang of panic and heat sprouted in his stomach and he couldn’t stop himself from gagging and spitting up the contents of his stomach into the sink, a sickly green foam circling the drain. 

 

“Dave?” Hal’s voice was muffled by the cabin walls. “You here? I could use a hand with the groceries.” 

 

Dave swiped at his mouth with the back of his hand. He couldn’t go out there like this, couldn’t face his partner when his mind was empty of reason, body heating up, blood pulsing so loudly he wondered if Hal couldn’t hear it from here.

 

But… it was possible. Maybe Hal had brought some beer back from the store. Even a cheap six pack might help take the edge off…

 

It didn’t matter anymore. All David knew was that what he needed lay on the other side of that door.

 

* * *

 

Hal groaned as he set the bags on the kitchen counter, fingers numb from the cold and the strain of their weight. Ideally, Dave would have gone on the excursion with him, but the man had mumbled something about not feeling well and Hal, not wanting to be a bother had offered to run the errand alone. 

 

At least by this point he more or less knew where everything went.

 

Coffee and sugar in the left cabinet. Instant noodles lined up on the shelf below. Frozen dinners shunted away in the stand-alone freezer unit that was also home to a number of large pieces of meat Hal had no clue how to tackle. 

 

He was pretty sure the sponges didn’t go in the middle of the floor but assumed Dave had left them there by mistake. Maybe he’d been under the sink looking for a bucket? He really must be feeling poorly.

 

Hal had just finished replacing the cleaning supplies to their home (and tossing the empty bottle into the garbage) when he looked up to see Dave standing over him.

 

“Dave?” He pulled himself upright and straightened his glasses. “You feeling any better?”

 

“Nnn.” Dave grumbled incoherently frowning at Hal for a split second before scanning the kitchen counter. There had to be something here for him. Hell, even if Hal had brought home some of that sickening melon flavored stuff, Dave would gladly down the whole bottle if it meant he’d make it through the evening. 

 

He caught a flash of silver from the counter, the top of a six pack. Thank god.

 

Unsure what to do about being ignored, Hal shifted his weight and resumed putting away the last of his purchases. Whatever had Dave feeling under the weather was clearly pretty intense.

 

“Grrrnnn….ffffuck.”

 

Hal turned sharply to see Dave holding his pack of cherry soda in a vise grip, shaking slightly.

 

“You bought soda.”

 

“Y-yeah? I don’t know I need the caffeine sometimes and even I get tired of coffee. Is this like… a health lecture or-”

 

“Fuck!” Dave slammed the cans on the countertop so hard they dented, and a telltale fizzing told Hal at least one popped open.

 

“Dave, what the hell?”

 

“You need to go out and get some beer or-” Dave stared blearily at Hal, doing his best to keep his vision focused, words clear. “I don’t fucking care you just need to  _ go _ .”

 

“It’s like twelve degrees out there,” Hal whined. “Kelvin. I’m not going anywhere. Now just calm down.” He took a step nearer to Dave, taking a brief sniff. Hopefully his runny nose was just a symptom of the cold and not an indication that he’d caught whatever was plaguing Dave. The flushed face and sweating, the shivering. Maybe some nasty strain of flu.

 

Despite his better judgement, Hal reached out slowly bringing his hand just close enough to brush against the stubble of Dave’s chin.

 

“You’re burning up. Drink some water, take a cold shower and get to bed. I’ll bring you something in a bit.”

 

Another grunt and strained grumble as Dave heaved forward a step. His mouth hung slack as he struggled to breathe. Hal’s hand was pleasantly cool against his face and without thinking he leaned into it.

 

“Dave…” Hal whispered, suddenly afraid for his friend. He’d never known the man to falter like this, to be anything less than completely resolute and strong. “Come on, I’ll help you.”

 

Mind hazy, body strangely heavy, David found he could do nothing more than follow-

 

-and obey.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Sometimes an idea persists and refuses to leave you alone until you give it some attention. This was one of those 3 am annoyances. Not exactly my usual kind of story but something I wanted to try.


End file.
